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Monday, January 13, 2014

wholefood step-by-step: # 2 salt

Welcome back for step two! As I said last week, knowing where to start with wholefoods or getting back to real food leaves many people confused and overwhelmed. I really want to help lessen that feeling through this series. One small step at a time is the best way for lasting change.

Today we're looking at salt. Poor old salt. It gets a bad rap, blamed for raising blood pressure and causing strokes and heart attacks. Who would eat it?! Oh but it tastes so good.

Well, if we delve a little deeper you'll discover not all salt is created equal and if you are going to add salt to your food there are some better choices you can make than table salt.

I'm not an expert in that I'm not a doctor, dietician or nutritionist, but the problem with salt as I see it is the quality and quantity consumed (consult a practitioner if you are wondering about your salt intake). Real unprocessed salt in and of itself is not the problem, the problem is that refined salt is a dominant ingredient in many processed foods from breakfast cereals to deli meats. So, if the majority of the food you eat comes from packets your refined salt intake is already high and then if you are adding salt at the table overload is on the cards. This adds up to excess salt consumption coupled with the additives found in table salt. Who wants to eat aluminium? No thanks.

Different forms of salt explained

Table salt

The luminous white powdery stuff referred to as table salt is a highly refined version of the mineral that originally came from the earth. The problem with this kind of salt is that through processing it is stripped of its naturally present trace minerals and is often mixed with anti-caking agent (some of which contain aluminium). Table salt is also fortified with iodine, iodine is essential for good hormone health and vitally important in pregnancy for the development of healthy babies. You can read more about iodine on Cyndi O'Meara's site. Seaweed is a good source of iodine, but like everything it is important to get the balance right for your individual body.

Sea Salt
Sea salt can vary in colour from white to grey to pink, depending on where it is harvested. Sea salt is unprocessed, hand-harvested and free of additives. Some sea salts are moist others are dry.

The label on the Macrobiotic Sea Salt pictured above reads:

..."It is dried only by the hot summer sun and wind. It is harvested in late summer by salt farmers who delicately gather the salt from the marshes with wooden hand tools. This salt is unrefined, unwashed and free of flowing agents and additives. Because this salt is only sun dried it retains the ocean's moisture, which helps lock in many naturally occurring trace elements"Himalayan Salt

Himalayan salt is mined in the Khewra Salt mines in Pakistan and is celebrated for being unprocessed, having 84 trace elements and additive free.

Table Salt, Sea Salt and Himalayan Salt are all forms of sodium chloride so need to be used mindfully, however it is the fact that Sea Salt and Himalayan Salt are unprocessed and additive free that sets them apart from table salt.

Another difference is the flavour. Once you stop eating table salt your taste buds adjust and flavours become heightened. To my taste, table salt is harsh.

When you find yourself feeling overwhelmed or confused about deciding what to eat, think about your where the food you are going to eat comes from:

Would you prefer salt of the earth or salt of the factory?

And as with all foods, don't fool yourself into thinking that because something is natural or real that you can eat as much of it as you want. For me the practice of being truthful with myself about what agrees with my body is as important as the actual food.

Do you use salt? What kind? Love to hear your thoughts in the comments.

Me too Kellie! I have cut back a bit though and have to say that now I use it more sparingly I appreciate it even more. But every body needs different amounts. Yesterday we had salt flakes on watermelon - delicious!! Hope you managing to keep cool xx

Hmmm. I was about to say the new zealand environment is deficient in iodine-when pregnant and breastfeeding iodine supplements are prescribed so i have stuck with table salt. I must look into using kelp powder or similar as i would much prefer a more natural salt-the pink salt sounds fantastic (its very cheap at the pet shop but mega bucks at the health food store-i wonder why?!!). Wonder what kelp powder tastes like?

That sounds curious about the kelp powder, I am guessing it has something to do with the difference in quality as why it is cheaper at the pet store! Or maybe just good marketing at the health food store :) if you add a stick of seaweed to your stews or soups you get the goodness from it and it doesn't alter the taste of your dish. x

In the past I have suffered from painful leg cramps.Since I've been using Pink Himalayan salt, the leg cramps have gone!! When I wake up in the mornings, The first thing I do, Is add a pinch of Pink Himalayan salt, to a large glass of Alkaline Mineralized filtered Water. It's what my body requires in the morning!! And then get ready for my morning walk!!

I used to use sea salt, but recently I've started using pink Himalayan salt and I love it. I probably use a bit more salt than I should, but I'm low on processed foods so I figure it is a little bit of give and take.

I subscribe to that theory too most of the time, that if you are not getting much salt anywhere else in your diet then a sprinkling here and there is ok, every body has different needs. Thanks for stopping by x

Welcome

I'm Nikki Fisher a freelance food writer who made a seachange, married a surf loving photographer and became a wholefood mama to two beautiful sons.

We live by the seasons eating homegrown veggies and fresh fish caught by my husband. It sounds so idyllic, don't worry there's still washing to fold, dishes to wash and sibling squabbles to sort out.

I hope this blog provides you with some inspiration to ditch packet food and eat fresh, natural, wholefood. But I also hope it is a place you like to visit to take a break from the every day and that you leave here feeling ready to love the life you live dirty dishes and all.